The field at TD Place in Ottawa, home of the Ottawa Redblacks in 2022.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

It’s tempting to joke that the city councillors in Ottawa pushing another stadium redevelopment plan are channeling Samuel Beckett, the Irish playwright who wrote “Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” What’s less funny is that there’s no reason to believe this latest try will prove to be any better.

In fact, it could turn out a lot worse. With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, the city has approved a plan based on rosy assumptions and a 50-year horizon.

The core of the scheme called Lansdowne 2.0 is to rebuild part of the stands at a city-owned stadium used by the local CFL Redblacks team. The plan would also replace an arena used by the local PWHL team, the Charge, though team officials have warned that the shrunken-down replacement venue has too few seats to keep the team financially viable. There would also be new parking facilities, two residential towers and new retail space.

The plan has a price tag of $483-million, though the city argues........

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